2016 wasn’t all that bad.

I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about this past year and I wonder if the girl that I was in January 2016 would recognize the girl that I am now.

I don’t think she would. And that’s good.

I cried a lot of tears in 2016. I let myself cry. I learned that sometimes just showing up is the hardest part of the battle.

I’ve met so many wonderful women in 2016 that have shown me what real women look like.

I’ve learned how messy life can be, but how there is so much beauty that can be made in the sticky and gooeyness of life.

I was blonde in 2016. That was new.

I learned who I was in 2016 and became okay with the fact that I’m a little high-maintenance, a little addicted to Friends and a tad bit dramatic.

But I also learned that I’m stronger than I realized I was, that I’m more okay with being alone than I ever thought I could be, and that even though I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up, I’m content with where I am right now.

I wouldn’t have learned this without the crying, the sadness, the anger, and the loneliness.

But in my loneliness is where I learned to have one-woman dance parties and gain power in being myself.

2016 was rough. But it wasn’t terrible. Besides, blondes DO have a lot of fun 🙂